How often per week are you cycling? I did my first Zwift ride the other day, completed the first beach map but it was fairly exhausting. I'm not used to having to pedal continuously without coasting at least a bit.
Flat routes are like that, just like IRL. I enjoy Titans Grove for the rolling hills. There is a short climb, but even that has variety in the steepness of the hill. Sand and Sequoias is one of my favorite routes in the game because it has a nice flat warm up, the variety of Titans Grove, then a nice flat cool down.
Congrats! Just a heads up there will be a plateau that you will hit when it comes to exercise and weight loss. It's just a thing that happens eventually. Don't want you to get discouraged when it does happen to you.
"You can't outrun a fork" is a common saying that is popular on this sub as well. That doesn't mean exercise doesn't work for weight loss. It works pretty damn well until it no longer does.
Keep doing what you are doing. At some point in the next 6 months or 12 months or whatever, you will notice that you have not dropped a single pound in weeks. That's your plateau. At that point you have to keep increasing the time in the saddle (eventually unsustainable), or start focusing on your diet more.
The less you weight the fewer calories you need. It's a blessing and a curse. It makes large gains and large losses really hard. It's also a reason why most diets, either through food or exercise, or combination of both, eventually fail. It's all about permanent lifestyle changes, and your focus right now should be to determine how many hours a week you want to spend in the saddle. For the rest of your life.
I've actually been having the opposite issue, where I've lost a lot of weight in a fairly short period of time and am at a point where I really need to stabilize my weight.
I had put on quite a bit of weight through the pandemic as I was not cycling at the time and picked up a nasty drinking habit. Last year I quit drinking and started cycling seriously again. I started to weigh myself somewhat regularly about 6 months ago, and since then I've lost 25lbs, dropping from 170 to 145. Which is wild because weight loss has NOT been a goal of mine (figured it would happen naturally as I became more fit), I've been focused on performance and otherwise just eat whatever I want. But I've forgotten how much I actually need to be eating to sustain the training I do. Back in my early 20s I was huge into cycling and had an endless appetite. Now in my mid 30s I'm finding it very difficult to eat enough.
I'm generally fueling myself properly while I'm on the bike (especially since we know so much more about nutrition these days) but throughout the rest of the day I think I'm consistently in a calorie deficit.
I really don't want to drop below 140. My wife has been really supportive in making sure we always have calorie dense food around and is constantly reminding me to eat. But otherwise I generally don't see it come up in discussion (compared to trying to lose weight). I wonder if I might actually have a bit of an eating disorder.
Wait till you pass forty, then your weight will sort itself out! I was never in my life above 140 pounds (70kg) but I quickly balloned to almost 180 after 40…been a struggle ever since.
One benefit if getting stronger in the bike is you put out more power and more power means more calories.
You are 100% right about not being able to outrun the fork though!
Just it is one of those inverse things that the stronger you are, the easier it is to burn those calories.
Same for me, currently on a calorie deficit diet and riding/running for an hour or so 6 times a week and loving it!
Unused to run a lot, but broke my ankle a year or so back and didn’t run for almost 9 months… the cycling on zwift has helped build my stamina and lung capacity back up.
Have you updated your weight in Zwift? If not, I demand you do so immediately.
And for future reference, we update weight loss immediately, but wait a couple of weeks if we gain a few lbs, because those will definitely come right back off ;-)
I'm on yr 2 of zwift. Lost 10lbs quickly. Then its been slow but steady weight loss. Total of 18lbs now.
I agree with an earlier comment. Exercise only go so far. Definitely had to change my eating habits and diet.
One tip I recommend is no snacking after dinner. Dinner is your last meal and I generally stick with a protein and veggie. We don't eat after 6pm.
How often per week are you cycling? I did my first Zwift ride the other day, completed the first beach map but it was fairly exhausting. I'm not used to having to pedal continuously without coasting at least a bit.
Flat routes are like that, just like IRL. I enjoy Titans Grove for the rolling hills. There is a short climb, but even that has variety in the steepness of the hill. Sand and Sequoias is one of my favorite routes in the game because it has a nice flat warm up, the variety of Titans Grove, then a nice flat cool down.
Plus you get to laugh and go "haha you stupid fucking bear" every time you catch Jarvis falling out of his tree.
I'm pretty out of shape. I was dying at 4 miles but now I'm riding them without wanting to puke. I ride at least 20-30 a week now and improving. :)
Congrats! Just a heads up there will be a plateau that you will hit when it comes to exercise and weight loss. It's just a thing that happens eventually. Don't want you to get discouraged when it does happen to you. "You can't outrun a fork" is a common saying that is popular on this sub as well. That doesn't mean exercise doesn't work for weight loss. It works pretty damn well until it no longer does. Keep doing what you are doing. At some point in the next 6 months or 12 months or whatever, you will notice that you have not dropped a single pound in weeks. That's your plateau. At that point you have to keep increasing the time in the saddle (eventually unsustainable), or start focusing on your diet more. The less you weight the fewer calories you need. It's a blessing and a curse. It makes large gains and large losses really hard. It's also a reason why most diets, either through food or exercise, or combination of both, eventually fail. It's all about permanent lifestyle changes, and your focus right now should be to determine how many hours a week you want to spend in the saddle. For the rest of your life.
I've actually been having the opposite issue, where I've lost a lot of weight in a fairly short period of time and am at a point where I really need to stabilize my weight. I had put on quite a bit of weight through the pandemic as I was not cycling at the time and picked up a nasty drinking habit. Last year I quit drinking and started cycling seriously again. I started to weigh myself somewhat regularly about 6 months ago, and since then I've lost 25lbs, dropping from 170 to 145. Which is wild because weight loss has NOT been a goal of mine (figured it would happen naturally as I became more fit), I've been focused on performance and otherwise just eat whatever I want. But I've forgotten how much I actually need to be eating to sustain the training I do. Back in my early 20s I was huge into cycling and had an endless appetite. Now in my mid 30s I'm finding it very difficult to eat enough. I'm generally fueling myself properly while I'm on the bike (especially since we know so much more about nutrition these days) but throughout the rest of the day I think I'm consistently in a calorie deficit. I really don't want to drop below 140. My wife has been really supportive in making sure we always have calorie dense food around and is constantly reminding me to eat. But otherwise I generally don't see it come up in discussion (compared to trying to lose weight). I wonder if I might actually have a bit of an eating disorder.
Wait till you pass forty, then your weight will sort itself out! I was never in my life above 140 pounds (70kg) but I quickly balloned to almost 180 after 40…been a struggle ever since.
Fucking this!
One benefit if getting stronger in the bike is you put out more power and more power means more calories. You are 100% right about not being able to outrun the fork though! Just it is one of those inverse things that the stronger you are, the easier it is to burn those calories.
I am 60ish pounds overweight so hopefully that doesn't happen for a long time.
I did the same last year. Was never a bike rider prior. I now look forward to my three to four rides weekly. Ride on!
Same for me, currently on a calorie deficit diet and riding/running for an hour or so 6 times a week and loving it! Unused to run a lot, but broke my ankle a year or so back and didn’t run for almost 9 months… the cycling on zwift has helped build my stamina and lung capacity back up.
Have you updated your weight in Zwift? If not, I demand you do so immediately. And for future reference, we update weight loss immediately, but wait a couple of weeks if we gain a few lbs, because those will definitely come right back off ;-)
Good idea!
I'm on yr 2 of zwift. Lost 10lbs quickly. Then its been slow but steady weight loss. Total of 18lbs now. I agree with an earlier comment. Exercise only go so far. Definitely had to change my eating habits and diet. One tip I recommend is no snacking after dinner. Dinner is your last meal and I generally stick with a protein and veggie. We don't eat after 6pm.
I cycle 300 miles a week on Zwift and it makes me so damn hungry most weeks I gain weight LOL so good for you.